Hello, just did a brief intro over in the welcome thread and I thought I'd start here next. My first question would be to avoid starting new topics like the one I'm about to begin. Is there a good search process or mechanism you use regularly here to avoid redundant threads? Trying to not be the new guy asking the same things over and over.
On to my current request...
I have an older Mako 20 that I fish out of Canaveral, FL. With the teak trim and the older school style the boat has, my older Penns just look the part and I enjoy using them. The Jigmaster 500's I'm using on a pair of Star kingfish rods with 30lb mono have been an absolute blast bump trolling live bait or pulling spoons nearshore for mackerel and bonita (for bait). I've actually been using these rigs for some lighter weight bottom fishing and while I've boated a several nice snapper with them, the 15lb drag limit isn't working as well as I imagine something else could for a medium duty bottom rig. I have a 7' Penn Power stick that is beefier than the Star live bait rods that I think will end up being perfect for the reel I'm looking for. What would you suggest for a reel with a little higher drag potential? I would like to run braid on this reel as I'm just not really feeling bites when dropping a 12oz lead in 100' of water with a live sardine on a circle hook. Looking for line capacity around 350+ yds of capacity and I'm thinking 50lb braid? I've got 2 heavy Star bottom rods with 4/0 Senators and heavy braid on them when targeting grouper but I'd like something that will help me get a 20lb snapper turned without having to thumb the spool too often. The jigmasters on the live bait rods just don't have enough horsepower to turn these bigger snapper and I'm not really getting any feedback when something bites. I'm catching fish but I'm missing quite a few.
Penn Magpower are Jigmaster size with ball bearings and 4/0 size drags; black and gold will match your Power Stick. Do you have a PC 3821 or PC3811?
Your other option is hotrod a Jigmaster or 3/0 with steel gears and drag upgrade from Bryan Young or versa insert.
It's a PC3821.
Thanks for the suggestion on the Mag Power; I'd never seen this reel series before but don't see any 990's available at the moment. Any other reels you'd suggest?
How much drag upgrade can be applied to a hotrodded jigmaster? I was also under the impression that it wasn't a good idea to run braid on one?
How much drag can one take....well depends on the upgrades. If you go with aluminum frame and Cortez Conversion plates with the internal goodies, probably over 20lbs. I'm sure someone has tested this, Sal probably knows for certain. I'll hook up a scale tonight and check on my Cortez 501 with steel gears, double dog bridge and carbontex drag (not Bryans or the inserts, which probably generate 20-50% more. make sure you get a stainless gear sleeve if you go this route or you will be rounding it off on the crank.
980 is smaller diameter but same drags; 970 is narrow 980. Both can stand 50 lb braid and they have 4.1 ratio as I recall.
Your guessing is a good one John, the Jigmaster loaded with upgrades could handle 20lbs without breaking a sweat.
On the 970-980, you were very close, the ratio is 4.25:1. The 990 is a little faster 4.7:1.
These are tough little reels.
Sal
Note the double dogging in my 501 AND 970 are courtesy of Sal!!! Thanks pal!!!
Quote from: igoswoop on June 12, 2017, 07:16:55 PM
It's a PC3821.
Thanks for the suggestion on the Mag Power; I'd never seen this reel series before but don't see any 990's available at the moment. Any other reels you'd suggest?
How much drag upgrade can be applied to a hotrodded jigmaster? I was also under the impression that it wasn't a good idea to run braid on one?
Here's a nice 990 in the original box with travel bag, manuals, lube, wrench, etc. I also have a new in the box spare spool. I would rate the reel as a 9+ on a 10 scale and I could deliver all of the above to you for $145 Paypal plus shipping at the cost of postage. If that works for you, please let me know.
There you go Swoop; 990 with twice the power and faster than a Jiggy. One will come up and can usually be had for less than $120. You can spend $400 on a Jiggy should you choose to go the full hawg on it, but then it doesn't have the old skool look anymore. I'd put a 113H (4/0 sleeve size) handle on the 990 and see if you like it; if not you can sell those reels all day. The 990 has a six screw stand, solid cross bars, and aluminum reinforced rings so is maybe twice as strong as Jigmaster out of the box.
I think the Jiggy quick take apart feature is preserved if you only sub in a solid frame (I'll check or someone correct me). That could work well for you if you upgrade the mechanicals and keep spare spools loaded with braid or mono, with a quick switch for your application du jour.
Randy posted while I was typing...there's your rig right there with all the ancillaries. LT 120$ will get you one with some use on it and no box, spool etc., and if Randy says its a 9 you will have to look closely to see where that minus one came from.
Umm......works for me!
That will work for you on that 3821 very well. If I don't upgrade clamp I got off studs to fit and use acorn nuts.
I'm pumped. Randy, pls PM me or let me know how to reach you best to settle up. I'm ready when you are.
Thanks for the quick replies from all of you. That reel is spot on with what I had in mind and it could probably fill in on some light trolling or heavier live baiting. Really looking forward to it.
Just curious since the 970 model came up in both my search after you turned me onto these Mag Powers, why would one choose a narrow spool model in any reel? The Penn Sailfisher and I believe the Master Mariner were some other designs that included this configuration as an option. I've never seen one up close and don't really understand the benefits that they offer and why you'd choose one.
Also, not really tracking on your last post re: the acorn nuts and the clamp. I think I'm missing something?
A reel that is narrow can take a lot more abuse as far as the frame twisting, Verses a wide reel.
Instead of wing nuts on the rod clamp, John cuts the clamp bolts to size and uses acorn nuts on them.
Much cleaner and you wont catch anything on the protruding studs like you do with wing nuts.
Good choice on that reel, and good advice John. ;)
I would have slapped a 114H on there and called it a day.
But that's just me. ;D
Quote from: igoswoop on June 13, 2017, 12:18:13 AM
I'm pumped. Randy, pls PM me or let me know how to reach you best to settle up. I'm ready when you are.
Thanks for the quick replies from all of you. That reel is spot on with what I had in mind and it could probably fill in on some light trolling or heavier live baiting. Really looking forward to it.
PM sent!
Glad you are buying it... otherwise I would!
Thanks for clearing that up regarding the clamp; that makes sense now and that's a great idea using the acorn nuts instead of the wing nuts.
I can see how getting the side plates closer together would resist twisting better now that you point that out. In what situation would a reel be subject to a force that would cause it to twist? I'm still having a tough time understanding the moment where someone says "oh we're going to catch _(fish)_ using _(bait/lure)_ while _(technique/trolling/bottom/etc)_ . I'll bring my narrow reel."
Quote from: igoswoop on June 13, 2017, 11:47:00 AMIn what situation would a reel be subject to a force that would cause it to twist?
When you start hot-rodding reels and bring them to a level past that for which they were intended the forces begin to add up. The twist would occur under a heavy load when the line was at one end of its excursion across the spool. You get just a little more pull on one end of the spool than the other, and if something (is loose or) fails the whole thing snowballs and the frame twists. It doesn't take much to bring the bushings out of alignment, and then you have no free spool or even worse... some twisted reels aren't twisted enough for it to be noticeable until the crank is turned.
Sid
Quote from: igoswoop on June 13, 2017, 12:18:13 AM
I'm pumped. Randy, pls PM me or let me know how to reach you best to settle up. I'm ready when you are.
Thanks for the quick replies from all of you. That reel is spot on with what I had in mind and it could probably fill in on some light trolling or heavier live baiting. Really looking forward to it.
Just curious since the 970 model came up in both my search after you turned me onto these Mag Powers, why would one choose a narrow spool model in any reel? The Penn Sailfisher and I believe the Master Mariner were some other designs that included this configuration as an option. I've never seen one up close and don't really understand the benefits that they offer and why you'd choose one.
Also, not really tracking on your last post re: the acorn nuts and the clamp. I think I'm missing something?
Thanks D! He explained the acorn nut thing better. I'll post a pic. You might also ask Randy if he has an aluminum clamp that fits it (I have an Accurate aftermarket clamp on mine, Sal does too). You are correct, the outfit will work just fine for trolling or live baiting. I used mine kingfishing. Note, they are magged and cast very well also, though I wouldn't try a max heave with braid and I seven foot rod. I use the 980's drum fishing, which is what they were designed for, and hit over a hundred yds easily with a 12' rod. Randy likely has a power handle also, if not MysticParts.com (Scott's) or ebay will. For turning a snapper that will be a lot easier than stock handle. The 970 is a great jigging reel with decent retrieve and power, as noted. It's capacity is maybe a half of the 980.
If Cortez ever makes frames for these reels, that would take the place of a whole lot of reels I own.
"Edited as per Moderators to correct Scott's Bait & Tackle over to their new store name Mystic Reel Parts / www.mysticparts.com"
Most guys on the west coast are not familiar with Star rods. Your Star rod is probably better quality than a Penn. I would have compared most models of Star rods with Calstar (here on the west coast) and Seeker (West and East coasts) brands. and depending on the model Star rod, even better.
The newer Star Aerial's are comparable to the Power Stick line, incidentally my go-to for king fishing paired with GS 545 and 555 on 3811's. The Deluxe line is a step up, IMO. Haven't fished with Calstar enough to compare, but either Star line is ok for what I do. I use the Deluxe 50 IFGA models with my Everol 50's. Very nice pairings.
Recent trip with The Tank on an Aerial stand-up pulling planer did fine on blackfins.
Thank you all for hopping on this so quickly. I should have the reel this Friday (thanks Randy).
One question from my original post, was there a good search feature or google advanced search you'd recommend so I don't start too many redundant threads? That gets new guys thumped on pretty quick on a lot of forums and I'm not trying to be a pest. Since this got solved so quickly, looking into the options of hot rodding some 4/0 Senators next.
Mike if you decide to hot rod your 4/0s, I have a good collection of made in the USA Accurate 4:1 stainless gears and Accurate, Newell and Tiburon frames and spools in all widths from narrow to extra wide, all made in the USA.
Thanks,
Randy
Have a good link for a plan to follow?
Not only did the reel arrive a day early, but I have to say Randy didn't describe it too well. No way this reel is a 9. If I were to resell it which I'm not, a TEN all the way. Not sure about the rules with sales around here but as a complete stranger less than a week ago, Randy AKA Vintage Offshore Tackle, runs a business that more outfits ought to take notice of in how to treat a customer. I am beyond satisfied with this reel and now that it's here a day early, it's going to my local shop for some braid first thing in the morning so I can fish it tomorrow afternoon. Excuse me while I nerd out with the original catalog and manual...
Thanks again to all for hopping on this. Getting this reel wet manyana!! Have a good one!
Re Randy, both his business ethics and his "rating scale"....told ya so!! Top shelf.
Good luck with the reel tomorrow!
Thank you Mike and John for the kind words. Nothing makes my day like hearing from a happy customer!
Randy
This reel is exactly what I was looking for.
Since it's going into service pretty much right away, I went ahead and tore it down to give it a thorough cleaning (not that hardly any was needed aesthetically) and wanted to get some fresh grease in it. I don't think I got it quite right.
I polished up the brass bridge and the gear sleeve surface that contacts it under the - lets call it the - "gear" that interfaces with the dog. It seemed to drag just a little at that part of contact but turned smooth once polished up. I cleaned out all the old grease off the pinion gear and the main gear along with the eccentric jack and pinion yoke. I replaced a light coat of grease on the brass parts and reassembled. The manual states not to pack the gears with grease so I applied a light bead while turning the gear sleeve along to get some grease in the teeth. I reassembled the reel and now I'm feeling a little bit of roughness. Its as if I can feel each tooth of the gear thumping into mesh. Did I not apply enough grease?
I have two of the 990, great little reel.
Not sure what exactly you did that affected it, but did you check that your spool adjust / bearing isn't too tight?
If it's too much grease, it should squeeze out pretty quick I would think. Try working it a bit over the next couple of days.
I've got it pretty well backed off; little bit of side to side play in the spool. I'm afraid I may have boogered the pinion a little separating the ring from it. >:(
My 970 was the kind of grindy too after I cleaned it. Pretty sure the yoke wasn't lined up right with the jack and the pinion wasn't meshing with the main gear right. Added more grease and shifted the jack a bit and it smoothed out. You might try that
Quote from: igoswoop on June 22, 2017, 12:35:32 AM
I've got it pretty well backed off; little bit of side to side play in the spool. I'm afraid I may have boogered the pinion a little separating the ring from it. >:(
What? I have never taken the ring off a pinion. Didn't even know it was possible. But I suspect that may be the problem. Did you grab it with pliers to hold it? Not a disaster I suppose. You can probably file off any burrs easy enough. I've wrecked a few parts in my day.
You'll get it right. Good luck.
Oh yeah, look at your yoke where the pinion sits. Is the chamfered (worn) side up?
The ring didn't turn freely and I couldn't get all the old brown grease out of all the recesses with it on. No pliers. I gently pried it off working with a small flathead screwdriver made of aluminum. There was a lot of crud in there. It was a pretty simple press fit back on. It did need a few whacks with a plastic mallet but it snapped right back in and spun a lot smoother.
I'm not sure I'm describing what the handle feels like now very well. This is not a grinding, friction like resistance. It's like I feel a direct connection to that interface between the main gear and the pinion and I can feel the gear teeth meshing as the handle is turned vs just a smooth resistance. I get a little bit of growl out of the gears when I turn the handle fast. Does that make any sense?
I'll take a look at the yoke this morning.
Thanks!
Update...
I guess the oil I put in the bearings needed to sleep in there overnight. The gear "feel" is still present but it's a big difference from yesterday. The reel feels pretty good now. Just got it spooled up with 50# braid over 30# mono. Stopping at Ace for some acorn nuts right now! :)
Make sure the acorn nuts are stainless steel.
Mine at work today
Got the ss acorn nuts on and had to trim almost 9/16" off the posts. Man, that is slick without the wing nuts. This combo is exactly what I was hoping for. I'll post up some pics as soon as the Photobucket app quits crashing.
Forgot to ask:
What's the consensus on the handle? I found the senator style handle referenced earlier in this thread and I also see Alan suggesting an older international handle that I don't ever recall seeing a part number for? Def want more cranking leverage than the stock handle even though it looks super cool.
Quote from: Rancanfish on June 22, 2017, 02:27:16 AM
Quote from: igoswoop on June 22, 2017, 12:35:32 AM
I've got it pretty well backed off; little bit of side to side play in the spool. I'm afraid I may have boogered the pinion a little separating the ring from it. >:(
What? I have never taken the ring off a pinion. Didn't even know it was possible. But I suspect that may be the problem. Did you grab it with pliers to hold it? Not a disaster I suppose. You can probably file off any burrs easy enough. I've wrecked a few parts in my day.
You'll get it right. Good luck.
Oh yeah, look at your yoke where the pinion sits. Is the chamfered (worn) side up?
I have had the pinion ring come off on the smaller reels.
It works fine without it.
I don't take it off intentionally, it just happens sometimes.
As far as that power handle you are looking for. The options are abundant.
That reel is powerful as it is for its size.
This outfit does what I wanted out of it in spades. Fished Sunday morning and I landed two nice kings on it as well as getting to beat up on a few snapper in the 20lb range. The rod is stronger than my star rods and this reel has more horsepower than my stock jigmasters. Now I need to get to work on the jigmasters. Stainless steel gear sleeves and longer handles are going on them.
A senator power handle showed up from Scott's today and I just put it on the 990. It's perfect.
Yes if you're not long casting power handle is good. Get us some fish pics!
Photobucket app crashes every time I launch it. Stand by....
21# ARS (Hate throwing these back but they ARE "endangered"....)
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m195/igoswoop/Resized_20170530_124440-4.jpeg) (http://s104.photobucket.com/user/igoswoop/media/Resized_20170530_124440-4.jpeg.html)
Didn't get any pics of the kings but here we are working on the results of dragging some live bait:
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m195/igoswoop/IMG_5997.jpg) (http://s104.photobucket.com/user/igoswoop/media/IMG_5997.jpg.html)
In 4 hours I will be making some fish dip!!!
Good job brother! Most folks I know won't eat kings or bluefish, but I think if bled quickly and cooked that day and topped with a little lemon and butter they are quite good. The smoked dip is a VERY overlooked venue for these guys. Outstanding.
Where are you fishing?
I fish out of Cape Canaveral, FL. We get some big blues along the beach in the winter and early spring down here before the mahi show up. I treat them the same way as I do king mackerel. Get the fish in, gutted and gill bled quickly. I put them on salted ice in my fish box. Chilling them down fast is the key to better texture for us since it gets so hot down here.
I don't care much for kings unless I've caught them and prepared myself. The meat has a higher water content than mahi and wahoo so brining the filets for an hour with the skin and blood line meat off in a mixture of brown sugar & salt toughens up the meat before the grill if you want to grill fresh. The brine turns into a thin syrup like consistency when chilled that really does well on the grill. Nobody can guess its a king when I serve it this way. I usually do this the night I get back from a trip or for lunch the following day. I agree 100% with a squeeze of fresh lemon and some melted butter. Most people don't know what they're missing. It takes a lot more care and handling to get good food value out of a king than most know how to do without all the milk and Italian dressing 2 day marinades and such. The only thing that gets that kind of circus for me is shark but again, gutted promptly and chilled I like them too.
The rest goes on the smoker for me with any fruit wood, preferably orange trees since we have so many around here. It's the only way I've been able to freeze king macks that doesn't get icky when thawed. I usually make up a few 10oz batches of fish dip and freeze the rest to make future batches. When I'm out of smoked filets, we go catch 3-4 more :)
Glad you are fitting right in Swoop.
Nice fish and pics.
Glad someone is catching.
And eating. ;)
Looking good!
Nithing wrong with fresh King Mac.
John
I use the same brine method for smoking fish too but add a blend of spices , works great for yellowfin tuna. I put green lemon wood on a bed of red oak coals for smoke, citrus wood is the best for smoking fish IMO. That fish on the grill looks tasty.
So I've got some AT stainless gear sleeves and some new handles coming for my jig masters from Scott's. I don't really plan on running more than 10lbs of drag or so on them. Any other good ideas you all would suggest for these reels?
Have you already put carbontex drag in? I'd stop there if you are gonna use them kingfishing, functionally. If you decide to go all-in, Cortez Classic Conversion kit and everything you already have will drop straight in. The reels should do fine as you have them at ten pounds though, providing you have the solid cross bars and not gen one posts..
No carbontex yet. Is that the smoothdrag.com guy?
I have the solid crossbars. I'll take a look at the Cortez Conversion. You mentioned them before. Do you have a 500 done with one of their frames? How do you like it?
Smooth drag and Pennparts both have carbontex and that's your first and main upgrade. No I don't have "a" Classic conversion...I think I have ten...not really needed for a king but dang they are the sweetest and freespool is outstanding. Some of the blue ones below. I also have green and silver in some reels.
Those ARE awesome man
Bonehead move in the ordering process. I ordered a pair of the ss AT design gear sleeves for the jigmasters from Scott's (along with a pair of 3 position power handles) last week. Didn't realize there was coarse thread and fine thread gear sleeve. My drag stars are for fine thread and I just finished installing the ss gear sleeve on one of the reels. I was pumped because my smoothdrag order showed up unexpectedly early so I sat down and started slamming the first reel together. Oh well. I'll be ordering 2 new coarse thread drag stars tonight and hopefully have them by the end of the week. I'll be paying closer attention next time I upgrade a part. Didn't know there was even a different thread pitch available. Hope the stars cut for coarse thread aren't too tough to find. Happy 4th to everyone! :)
I) Scott's is about always early, not inexpectedly :)
2) they should have the coarse thread. Instead of looking at the schematc only, always read full section on the reel; Mo and Scott do a great job keeping up eith design changes so you know what goes together and put in a blurb at top of each parts page where applicable.
I see that now. Their explanations are pretty thorough if one takes the time to read them. ::)
2 10-60BS drag wheels on the way!
yeah, I've a 505 fine thread or two for the same reason, lol
Quote from: thorhammer on June 30, 2017, 07:12:27 PM
Smooth drag and Pennparts both have carbontex and that's your first and main upgrade. No I don't have "a" Classic conversion...I think I have ten...not really needed for a king but dang they are the sweetest and freespool is outstanding. Some of the blue ones below. I also have green and silver in some reels.
Whoa there John. You can't be serious :o :o
What else you got hiding in your belfry ?? Feel free to share more.
Kind of underwhelmed and stumped right now. ???
My drag stars came in for my 500's and I wasted no time getting them slapped in. I know 100% I installed the carbontex drag stack in the correct order and the keyed washer is timed into the recesses as it should be. It took a couple tries to line it all up when bolting the bridge back in. The combination of the new power handle, the new gear sleeve and the new drag star seems to be a little more mass than the stock parts. Even with the drag star backed off all the way (tightly bottoming out against the handle), there seems to still be too much drag pressure being exerted on the spacing sleeve that compresses the drag stack. A haven't put it on a scale yet but I will tomorrow. The only way I can see gaining the ability to back off the drag a little more would be to shave down the spacing sleeve (part # 9-60). I don't know if this is a good idea in that I imagine the part is chrome plated brass and grinding a few thousandths off will probably make it more susceptible to corrosion. Bummed out. I was really looking forward to getting this guys spooled up later tonight and get these outfits back into the rotation.
Anyone run into this? Do the carbontex drag washers break in some?
Igoswoop, Penn Parts has different lengths of that spacer sleeve. I generally find that a .040 shorter sleeve does the trick. Or go ahead & shave it down & put the shaved end down into the grease on top of the drag stack. Just keep it square. The drag doesn't have to be backed off 100%. A pound or two of drag when backed off is OK. Rudy
Thanks Rowdy; I'll take a look but in the meantime, I'll cut the sleeves down 20-30 thousandths and see how they work.
On a side note, I hate to nitpick but these drag stars are the correct thread pitch but the overall diameter of the stars is really small it seems like. I know I put a much bigger handle on the reels than was originally intended but these stars seem almost out of place. Will a senator star work?
No, the largest Penn star that will fit is one from a longbeach 66. Adam of Three Se7ens makes custom stars up to 3" in diameter in stainless steel. Rudy
Quote from: igoswoop on June 12, 2017, 04:02:05 PMI have an older Mako 20 that I fish out of Canaveral, FL. With the teak trim and the older school style the boat has, my older Penns just look the part and I enjoy using them.
I'm an "Old School" guy . . . Post up some pics of your Mako, brisltling with "old school" Penn goodness !
Tight Lines !
'87 Mako 20C... Not true Mako old school but still plenty of cues from the designs from the 70's. The 20 back then was a stretched version of the Schwebke's original Mako 19 (THE original Mako). I was 6 when this boat was new so fair enough for me to call it old school :)
The leaning post & T top was not really part of the plan back then but the shade is great. This boat has been perfect for calmer days out of Canaveral and enough room to take my wife and the dogs to the sandbar for a picnic. I could see myself owning other boats down the road but it would be hard to ever talk me into selling this one. I've just made too many memories in this boat to let it go.
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m195/igoswoop/08E3DDE7-B877-46C9-B5CE-55E3BB7815DB.jpg) (http://s104.photobucket.com/user/igoswoop/media/08E3DDE7-B877-46C9-B5CE-55E3BB7815DB.jpg.html)
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m195/igoswoop/45EDCC03-5EB8-4C16-A655-25BB247D9687.jpg) (http://s104.photobucket.com/user/igoswoop/media/45EDCC03-5EB8-4C16-A655-25BB247D9687.jpg.html)
Pulling some live pogeys with the jigmasters...
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m195/igoswoop/720EFCEC-F1B5-4D2B-AF6D-B59B8CAD63E3.jpg) (http://s104.photobucket.com/user/igoswoop/media/720EFCEC-F1B5-4D2B-AF6D-B59B8CAD63E3.jpg.html)
Couple of AJs and a king before icing them down
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m195/igoswoop/F1AB5BB3-F879-4B6E-98D7-075F127FCF69.jpg) (http://s104.photobucket.com/user/igoswoop/media/F1AB5BB3-F879-4B6E-98D7-075F127FCF69.jpg.html)
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m195/igoswoop/00018FD3-D478-46FD-A5F7-F6CBF6E5CE7F.jpg) (http://s104.photobucket.com/user/igoswoop/media/00018FD3-D478-46FD-A5F7-F6CBF6E5CE7F.jpg.html)
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m195/igoswoop/FE491386-8626-4237-9061-68425D16523B.jpg) (http://s104.photobucket.com/user/igoswoop/media/FE491386-8626-4237-9061-68425D16523B.jpg.html)
Quote from: igoswoop on July 10, 2017, 02:01:07 AMI was 6 when this boat was new so fair enough for me to call it old school :)
I was 26 when your boat was new . . . LOL !
Awesome! They don't make them like they used to; goes for people too :)
Yeah, the only way you should let go of that boat is if I buy it. About as a functional layout day-in-day-out as could be. CC's from that era typically had Captain's chairs; a terrible waste of space in a CC less than 26ft IMO. Teak looks great.
Curiously, AJ's in NC are considered trash but are on menus in Fla. I grilled a piece once from an AJ I had caught, taking care to only use top loin and stay away from parasites in the caudal peduncle (that's for you, John, lol). Melted butter and fresh lemon and it was very similar to grouper: white, flaky, mild. Tasty.
You already got power handles; swap the drags and it'd have to be a real smoker to press those Jiggy's. The 990 Magpower is well able to pull a medium planer with a pogy to get you down. I'd put 30 on it if you haven't spooled yet.
I couldn't agree more on the layout. These older 20's are the cure for "two-foot-itis". I missed my '73 Mako 17 Angler for the first few months I owned this one but where I live, there isn't much I can't find a way to do out of this boat. One day I'll add a flats boat and a bigger walk around but this rig keeps me on the bite.
I spooled the 990 with 50lb braid to use primarily as my light bottom rod as intended but if it were doing more trolling duty in the future, 30lb mono it would be.
Heading out again tomorrow to see if this mango bite is still on!
Good luck. cool dawgs!
Quote from: igoswoop on July 10, 2017, 02:01:07 AM
'87 Mako 20C... Not true Mako old school but still plenty of cues from the designs from the 70's. The 20 back then was a stretched version of the Schwebke's original Mako 19 (THE original Mako). I was 6 when this boat was new so fair enough for me to call it old school :)
The leaning post & T top was not really part of the plan back then but the shade is great. This boat has been perfect for calmer days out of Canaveral and enough room to take my wife and the dogs to the sandbar for a picnic. I could see myself owning other boats down the road but it would be hard to ever talk me into selling this one. I've just made too many memories in this boat to let it go.
Seeing your boat made me feel young again, but then the mirror brought me back to reality . . . Man, do I hate mirrors - LOL !
Tight Lines !